The Daily Telegraph

Pay teenagers £10 an hour, says Corbyn

- By Edward Malnick

A PLAN by Jeremy Corbyn to pay 16-year-olds a “living wage” of £10 an hour could prevent young people from getting on the jobs ladder and lead to companies employing fewer workers, business groups warned last night.

The British Chambers of Commerce said that hiking the wage paid to teenagers could “price them out of the workplace”. The Adam Smith Institute, a free-market think tank, warned that the move could lead to businesses opting for older workers rather than “younger, riskier hires”.

The warnings came after Mr Corbyn told a union conference that Labour’s manifesto policy to introduce a £10-an-hour living wage paid to adults “should apply to all workers” – signalling a rise of almost 150 per cent for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Under-18s can now be paid £4.05 an hour, compared with the £7.50 minimum for 25 years and over.

Last night Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “We should be creating jobs and growth opportunit­ies for young people. A proposal like this could price them out of the workplace.”

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